CC Minutes - 10/10/01 Work Session

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Ms. Taylor expressed her preference for Option l(a). She said that it was the responsible thing to do and was spending money to protect the future health of the community. She remarked that l(b) was the least that the council could do. Mr. Rayor, seconded by Mr. PapS, moved to amend the motion by adding a three-year sunset. Mr. Rayor said that a sunset would ensure an accounting of how the program was working. Mr. Kelly noted that Option l(b) required seven years for acquiring the proposed sites. He said he would not support the amendment. He was in favor of accounting and expressed a hope that the City Manager would take heed of the council's desire to see an annual report on the program. Ms. Bettman did not support the amendment for Mr. Kelly's reasons. She remarked that it was counter- productive since the acquisitions would take much longer than three years to accomplish. Mr. Meisner supported the amendment. He said there had been substantial public questions about the use of stormwater funds and the sunset was a way to guarantee accountability and performance. In response to a question from Ms. Nathanson regarding whether the sunset date would undermine staff's ability to plan and negotiate, Mr. Corey said the sunset clause that preceded the expiration of the program might hinder the plan. The amendment passed, 4:3; Mr. Kelly, Ms. Bettman, and Ms. Taylor voting in opposition. The main motion passed, as amended, unanimously. II.WORK PLAN FOR REOPENING BROADWAY Mr. Corey said staff was requesting council approval of a work plan for reopening Broadway to vehicular traffic between Oak and Charnelton streets. He cited the success of the businesses in adjacent areas that had benefitted by reopening streets as well as the lack of success of businesses and vacant storefronts along the length of Broadway proposed for reopening. Mr. Corey said that, in April, the council had approved the Downtown Visioning Implementation Work Plan for the Redesign of Broadway that recommended a public vote on the reopening and approved limited funding for the development of design concepts. He noted that voters in the following election had approved the reopening and staff had been working with a local design professional and had received comments from the public. He said the next steps in the process were the establishment of an interdepartmental work team and proceeding with the public involvement process. He said the outreach that was proposed was outreach to the Citizen Involvement Committee, Downtown Eugene Incorporated, neighborhood groups, as well as public workshops. He said that final design and approval would be via the Eugene Planning Commission. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 10, 2001 Page 5 Work Session